Seahawks' Sherman has nothing but praise for Broncos

Updated 7:27 am, Monday, January 27, 2014

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- The city that waited almost 50 years for a Super Bowl was most eager to greet the cornerback who has been world famous for, oh, eight days.

Both the Broncos and Seahawks arrived in Jersey City Sunday, and dozens of cameras huddled around Richard Sherman's podium a good hour before he showed up.

No, Sherman didn't say anything crazy. He had nothing but compliments for Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and cornerback Champ Bailey. He called Thomas a friend and said "only a couple of guys in this league have (his) pure strength, size and speed."

He called Bailey a Hall of Famer.

"He laid the foundation for what it is to be a shutdown corner," Sherman said.

But unsurprisingly, Sherman, the three-year veteran and the new face of this equally young and dominant Seattle defense, didn't want to talk about the disparity in experience. Many Broncos have been here before. Zero Seahawks have played in a Super Bowl. They're the first team since the 1990 Buffalo Bills to enter the game with that distinction.

"I've never seen experience play in a game," Sherman said. "We don't worry about that. We didn't have experience in the NFC championship and we were fine there."

Photo: Julio Cortez, STF

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Running back Marshawn Lynch was one of the Seahawks who opted for more casual attire for the trip to New Jersey on Sunday.

Running back Marshawn Lynch was one of the Seahawks who opted for more casual attire for the trip to New Jersey on Sunday.

Photo: Julio Cortez, STF

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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman talks to reporters as he leaves team headquarters in Renton, Wash., Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014, to board a bus for his flight to play the Denver Broncos in the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII football game in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) less

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman talks to reporters as he leaves team headquarters in Renton, Wash., Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014, to board a bus for his flight to play the Denver Broncos in the NFL Super ... more

Photo: Ted S. Warren, Associated Press

Seahawks' Sherman has nothing but praise for Broncos

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The inverse of Denver in so many ways, the Seahawks bring to New York a loud, punishing defense that has earned the right to talk. They are tops in the NFL in yards allowed (273.6 per game), points allowed (14.4 per contest) and takeaways (39), making them the first team to lead the league in those three categories since the 1985 Chicago Bears, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

They'll be tested by the most prolific offense ever -- at least statistically.

"It's historically as hard as it gets," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "It can't get any tougher. ... We're up against it. They don't just throw the football. They run the football. It's an extraordinary challenge."

But, Carroll added, "We're going to see how this matchup goes. They have to play against us, too."

Unlike Sherman, Carroll acknowledged that guarding against a premature sense of accomplishment is "an issue."

"We had some great matchups down the stretch, and there was none greater than the San Francisco matchup," Carroll said. "Even though we're young, I think we have a mature perspective of what it takes to perform well. We've never talked about `all we want to do is get there.' We've never talked about the Super Bowl. We've just talked about playing really well."

Much of the Seattle's success can be attributed to its defense, a group that has progressed together at an incredible rate. The average age on the Seahawks roster is 26.4 years, which makes them the second-youngest team to reach the Super Bowl, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. All-Pro safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor were drafted in 2010, and Sherman was selected in 2011.

When the Seahawks nabbed Sherman in the fifth round, they had just completed a 7-9 season. They equaled that mark again in Sherman's rookie year, but have rapidly ascended to the NFL's summit.

Upon arriving at the Westin in Jersey City around 8 p.m. Sunday, the Seahawks were greeted by a mass of fans outside the hotel and some in the lobby. It was a nice reception, but nothing like their sendoff from Seattle.

"The 12s were out in full-force," Carroll said. "When we got down to the last stretch (on the bus), there were thousands of people in the streets. As a matter a fact, the bus could only go two miles an hour. They kind of swarmed in the streets. It was really fun to see. They were jumping up and down and going crazy just like the 12s do. They were pounding on the bus and the whole thing. It was very collegiate-like. Very cool."

Carroll, who had a short stay in New York as head coach of the Jets in 1994, said the atmosphere Sunday reminded him of the bowl games he coached while at USC. This is, they'll all admit, a long way from Seattle. The young Seahawks are on the sport's grandest stage in the world's most glamorous city.

"Everybody getting the chance to see the cameras and the media has helped everybody kind of evolve and understand the media and understand the messages they want to put across," Sherman said. "Everyone is cognizant of it and everyone is aware of what could happen if they give a potential sound byte.

"But it's all going to come down to who plays the best football,. None of that is going to be relevant."